Something like Irony
by Sometsuki
Summary: Chihiro Fujisaki meets Tenko Chabashira. It goes pretty well for everyone.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Danganronpa. The author's note at the end contains slight V3 spoilers.**

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Chihiro felt jittery with anticipation. The day before, he told the 78th class his actual gender. Mondo, Kiyotaka, and Makoto already knew, but the support he got from his other classmates (sans a few obvious ones) was amazing. With encouragement from Mondo and the others, he decided that over the next few days he would correct anyone else who thought he was a girl until the majority of Hope's Peak High knew.

He wrung his hands, feeling an urge to smooth out a skirt that wasn't there anymore as he walked down the halls.

Maybe it was his anxiety clouding his ability to pay attention to his surroundings, or it was his small size preventing others from seeing him, or the student who tripped him did it on purpose, but suddenly he found the floor rising up dangerously fast to meet his face.

Or, it would have if strong hands didn't catch him first. Chihiro's face went red as he realized the arms didn't belong to Mondo. If it was him this wouldn't be nearly as awkward. The programmer looked up at his savior to thank them and recoiled.

"_Aaannnd _there!" Chihiro's feet were back on the ground. "Fujisaki-san, are you okay?"

"Yes," He squeaked out. "I'm fine. Th-thank you." Chihiro might have been bursting with agitation now, but his words were sincere.

"I'm glad to hear that! It's my job to protect girls, especially ones as cute as you!" He could practically see the sparkles in her eyes. "I'm Tenko Chabashira, the Ultimate Aikido Master. You're the Ultimate Programmer, right?" Chihiro somehow found the strength to nod, even through his grimace at the 'girl' comment. Tenko perked up even further at that.

"That's so cool! You must be really smart!" Tenko looked away in embarrassment, pressing her fingers together. "I'm not very smart myself, so I find the type of stuff you and other smart girls do really great." The boy fisted his hands to his chest, still frowning with his throat closed up.

Chihiro heard of Tenko Chabashira from his classmates, but they never formally met before. This was not out of coincidence. He knew about Tenko's hatred of the male gender and avoided her out of fear she would somehow figure out he wasn't a girl. Being very timid, he didn't want to get into a nasty confrontation with her. This was the last person he wanted to talk to on his first day of going public as a boy.

It didn't help that he wasn't very confident talking to girls in the first place, and in spite of her fashion sense, Tenko was fairly cute.

_It's a very good thing she can't read my mind._ He thought with some grim amusement.

He really, really wanted to leave. Politely excuse himself and wait until Tenko found out from one of her friends or tell her about it another day, just not now. He would rather do _anything _than confess to her right now.

But… could he really grow stronger if he balked at the first challenge that came his way? If Mondo knew, he would be disappointed at him. He wouldn't be cruel about it, not at all, but Chihiro didn't want to disappoint the biker after they made so much progress. And… most of all, he wanted to do this for himself. Maybe taking the easy route this one time wouldn't be that big of a deal, but to Chihiro, it would be a step backwards to everything he worked hard for.

Apparently enough time had passed for the silence to become awkward. Tenko looked down at Chihiro in anticipation.

"Fujisaki-san, is there something you want to say? I know we don't know each other well, but you can tell me anything!" Tenko gave a gentle smile, acting unlike her previously energetic self. Apparently she picked up on his nervousness.

"Actually, Ch-Chabashira-san… yes. There is something I want to say. This is just… difficult for me. I'm sorry." Chihiro brought his eyes to the ground, both as an act of deference and so he wouldn't have to look at Tenko's face. That would make things slightly easier for him.

"That's okay, go on ahead!" The girl encouraged, putting more enthusiasm back in her voice. That actually helped him a bit, so he cleared his throat before finally speaking.

"Immaboy." The words were came out so fast they were unintelligible.

"Ah… what was that?" She asked patiently.

Chihiro squeezed his eyes shut, making sure to speak clearly and slowly this time. "I'm a boy. Not a girl. Please don't be mad."

There was a pause. "What?"

"I-I'm a—"

"WHAAAAAT?" Her face was one of comical shock and her loud voice brought a few curious and annoyed looks from the other students in the hallway, the rest were those already used to the antics that occurred in the school.

"_Y-you—_" Tenko's voice wasn't gentle anymore as she pointed at him accusingly. Chihiro felt his heart sink. "I can't believe a boy would be so despicable as to trick other girls into thinking he was one of them! You were trying to get close to them so you could be a perv, weren't you?"

Chihiro hated himself for how easily the tears came. "N-no! I just…" He trailed off, his voice drowned out by Tenko's own.

"I thought you were someone to admire, but—!" Tenko cut herself off, her eyebrows furrowing as she noticed the small boy's tears. Chihiro wiped at his eyes, but they wouldn't stop flowing. He didn't notice, but the girl's eyes grew a shade darker with guilt.

To Chihiro's surprise, even though this was something he was dreading the entire time, Tenko took a hold his arm and flipped him hard on his back. Even his training with Mondo couldn't prepare him for how much that hurt. He groaned in pain, but at least he finally stopped crying. The aikido master's face was contemplative as she stared down at him on the floor. Chihiro was reluctant to get up just yet, fearing another beat down.

"Aikido isn't just about physical strength, it requires great mental strength as well." Tenko stated, quite randomly in Chihiro's opinion.

"Fujisaki-san, I believe you have the capacity to become great at aikido." She complimented in a neutral tone of voice, much to his shock. She continued, not looking him in the eyes. Which wasn't hard when he was still on the floor.

"I don't know why you decided to keep it a secret from everyone but… the fact that you're starting to be more honest with others is a step in the right direction." She admitted.

"Keeping secrets and lying is pretty typical of a degenerate male," Her voice was thick with disapproval as she said this. "…but males should always strive to improve themselves so they don't cause trouble for others." Almost as if to surprise Chihiro even further, Tenko smiled kindly at him and offered her hand. He took it robotically, and she pulled him up, putting him back on his feet for the second time that day.

"Just know this will be the last time I will ever touch you, unless it's to hurt." She asserted blandly.

Chihiro laughed. "That's fine with me!"

That was one of the more terrifying experiences he had in his lifetime, but the programmer couldn't say he didn't feel much better after it. Tenko wasn't nearly as mean as he assumed she would be.

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**I chose the most cliche way ever to make them meet, otherwise I'm happy with the rest of the fic.**

**Tenko is actually pretty sweet to the boys when she wants to be, particularly when they're hurting and haven't shown themselves to be too much of a "degenerate" yet (e.g., Shuichi after Kaede's death) so that's my logic for why she's nice to Chihiro in this instance. Still, I hope that part didn't come across as too… rushed? It probably did, this is a short fic after all. Oh well. I hope this is enjoyable for Tenko and Chihiro fans anyway.**


End file.
